Parliamentary Assembly vice-president to lead election observers in Kazakhstan

COPENHAGEN, 6 October 1999 - Mr. Ihor Ostash MP (Ukraine), Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, will arrive in Almaty on 7 October 1999, to lead the OSCE observers for the Parliamentary Elections in Kazakhstan on 10 October 1999. Mr. Ostash was appointed by OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebæk, as his special representative to lead more than 100 international observers deployed by the OSCE throughout the country. He will also deliver the preliminary assessment in conjunction with other appropriate officials on behalf of the international community on 11 October 1999.

The OSCE observer team includes 17 representatives of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly representing OSCE countries, such as Austria, Belgium, Norway, Czech Republic, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States.

The OSCE Election Observation Mission is a joint effort between the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The mission includes long-term and short-term observers from OSCE participating States. The OSCE Observation Mission will assess the conduct of the elections, the political campaign and the role of the media. Long-term observers have already been deployed for several weeks throughout the country. This week, the short-term observers will be deployed in Kazakhstan by the OSCE Election Observation Mission.

MEDIA CONTACT: Mr. Jan Jooren, press counsellor, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Copenhagen, tel.: (+45) 33 32 94 00; fax: (+45) 33 32 55 05; e-mail: press.counsellor@oscepa.dk